BLU-RAY DEBUT Of all the films swimming along in Jaws’ wake, Alligator is the best – a genuinely brilliant film in its own right. That’s what happens when you have John Sayles (later an acclaimed independent director, but at this point a gun-for-hire screenwriter) on board.
Riffing on an urban myth, the set-up sees a gator living in the LA sewer system growing to 30 feet in length after munching on experimental dogs dumped by a pharma company. Realised using baby gators in model sets and a suit operated pantomime-horse style, the beast is good enough, with director Lewis Teague having the sense to never show too much. Often tense, with some neat visuals – like a killing illuminated by camera flashes – it’s ruthless too, with even a small boy getting munched. But it’s Sayles’s wry wit which really elevates the film. There are countless idiosyncratic touches: the way people keep mentioning the receding hairline of Robert Forster’s cop hero; the souvenir sellers flogging soft toys; the sewer wall graffiti reading “Harry Lime Lives!”.